Car damage caused by potholes
The state of our roads is just disgusting and I for one am well and truly fed up paying a road tax and not seeing repairs undertaken in a timely fashion. Where do you begin if you want to report problems with potholes and rough and uneven surfaces on the road? I dread to think of the amount of car damage cause by potholes!
I've tried writing letters to the council but they've been largely ignored and the freephone number they gave me was a dead end... I just want to know where my road tax is going to because I know one thing, it isn't going to road repairs.
Last month I had to replace one of the suspension units on my car and I'm willing to bet the damage was due to the roads I drive on each day. They should be paying me to drive on the roads, not the other way round! How much extra does it cost us each month to commute because these roads are wrecking our cars?
I've driven on all sorts of roads all over Britain, I've also driven abroad and to be honest the state of our roads is really appalling when compared. Bring back the Romans, they probably knew more about roads than Labour's transport minister is ever likely to! To be fair, the further north you go (with the exception of Wales, but they still use horses and carts there anyway!) the better the roads get, and many of the motorways are okay.
It's the A class roads and dual carriageways that join the towns and cities that have been neglected. Why is that? Is it because not enough people are complaining, or is it because not enough people complain to the right person? I don't know, but I've tried and so far the road I take every day to work is like a joy ride in a moon buggy. Some of the potholes are big enough to bury the dead in and that's no joke!
If anyone has any help or advice on this issue please let me know. We all want a softer ride, and I wonder how many accidents in the country are partly to blame thanks to poorly maintained road surfaces?
Comments from visitors
Come and drive in Sydney Australia and compare.
You realise you're not getting such a bad ride after all!
You realise you're not getting such a bad ride after all!
+3
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Alloy wheels designed to accept wide low profile tyres may look the business, but in reality it is an extremely poor German design. that will not take any punishment.
+14
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My curse on German cars is working well Felix, believe me they are only made of steel with alloy wheels that bend because of poor design " To much overhang from hub"
-9
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A pothole (crater) has bent my steering rack. Estimated £200-£300 for my BMW:(:(
+6
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potholes have just took out my wheel and my cv joint scumbags
-9
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there is a road near cotteridge in stirchley { pershore road } road works have been there for a week now and no workmen have been seen , there are drains sticking up which cause damage to your wheels big drops and really rough terrain to drive on this definatly needs sorting due to so much traffic in rush hour .
+6
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You can't just fill the potholes. The whole road needs done again or else it just happens again once the road freezes, then the roads become unfixable cos its too cold. Has common sense completely gone?
+4
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I've just been told that my wheels have buckled due to pothole damage - it is going to cost a fortune to fix along with the 'boots' housing the steering column.
+5
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After 3 months of to-ing anf fro-ing to South Glos Council and their insurers, Zurich, I have had my claim for pot hole damage to my new car Fiesta Zetec S, turned down.I sent all the relevant photos, maps, quotes, date and time of incident, weather condition, etc, and even with a tape measure in the 4" hole to show the size of the pot holes on a local road (not a main road). I damaged 2 alloys and tyres. I heard back eventually from the insurance co that South Glos inspected this road 3 months prior to my incident and no faults were found, Under the Highways Act, etc, they said they are not responsable as no one had reported the holes in Feb. Funny that it was exactly 3 months to my accident date, and the holes were repaired within a week of my claim!!!!! What a bunch of t---ers!!
-8
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The state of the roads in this country are nothing short of hideous, even recent deaths shown in the daily papers seems to have gone unnoticed as the "NEW" goverment are proposing new cuts in our road repair schemes.
This being so should mean road tax becoming cheaper or did I hear someone say "ah we are going to use the money to help the NHS".
If you have a problem with potholes go to www.FixMyStreet.com and make sure you complain nicely, this way you mite get something done just dont hold your breath.
This being so should mean road tax becoming cheaper or did I hear someone say "ah we are going to use the money to help the NHS".
If you have a problem with potholes go to www.FixMyStreet.com and make sure you complain nicely, this way you mite get something done just dont hold your breath.
+2
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At the stat of the year whilest we had the thick snow, a holehad formed on a road near me, obviously I didnt see it untill I had gone own it, im assuming that a lot of people had gone down this new hole and it had been reported to the council as when a couple of days later I went back to look at it and take a picture it had already been filled, I wrote to the council road department thinkin it would be them dealing with claims but didnt head anything back, going down the pot hole completly cracked my screen from the passanger side staight across the drivers side, I sorn the car when the tax ran out due to not wanting to drive it with the window as it is,do you know who I would try now
-4
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If your car gets written off due to leaving the road with a pothole burst tyre, the insurance company will tell you to go to the council, and the council lawyers will threaten you big time, you will get nothing, then the police will probably decide to prosecute you for dangerous driving and you will get banned from driving for 10 years and slammed with a hefty fine...just the way it is just have to suck it up
-8
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Well at a bit I know of the roads are really bad with 6 inch deep foot wide potholes, and people have written off cars because of it, also they contracted a company to do a bit of work on the roads and they were so tight and profit fixated that they installed about 3 miles of wooden, yes wooden edge barriers, which upon complaints they said they were all highly university qualified and had more knowledge than the complainants- basically just shut up and go away...
There were then thousands of complaints including from several doctors working and retired, fire service , paramedics and road experts from outwith the area who holiday there, and the small matter that about 40 people were ki11ed between 1970 and 1987 when they put in steel ones, which had rusted away and were put back to wood by this lot, aparently the steel ones buckle and split and the wooden ones disintigrate and go through the side of the car and through the people...the fences were very very grudgingly removed and left with no barrier at all after a large extra amount of money was spent.
There were then thousands of complaints including from several doctors working and retired, fire service , paramedics and road experts from outwith the area who holiday there, and the small matter that about 40 people were ki11ed between 1970 and 1987 when they put in steel ones, which had rusted away and were put back to wood by this lot, aparently the steel ones buckle and split and the wooden ones disintigrate and go through the side of the car and through the people...the fences were very very grudgingly removed and left with no barrier at all after a large extra amount of money was spent.
+5
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nothing will be done about potholes until someone gets ki11ed, preferrably someone in authority who has some clout in transport, I keep my fingers crossed and hope its the m.o t. or somebody close to them maybe then things will happen.I suggest they get all the stuff they made the bumps on the road and dumped it in the potholes, who thought of that one?
-3
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I lost a wheel on a "pothole" 4ft by 2ft with two exposed drain covers in it. My local council says they are not liable because their inspection log was up to date!!! This is why we have potholes, the regulations allow them to inspect their lack of action regularly and say they have done their job, legalised incompetence. Don't bother to repair when its cheaper to inspect and document your findings!!! I'm waiting to be stopped for erratic driving soon, no officer I am not drunk I'm just avoiding the potholes, any comments?
-11
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I have got subaru impreza with alloys that cost £1800. I hit a pot hole yestaday in chadderton near the asda and it poped my tire and cracked my alloy. I am no happy at all with the roads at all there piss takein now with the roads!!!!
-13
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I hit a large pothole at night on an unlit dual carriage highway. Fortunately I was only doing about 40 mph as it was raining and visibility was poor. Apart from the shock and the potential for an accident, my steering was knocked slightly out of alignment but I was able to carry on to my destination after checking the tyre for visible damage - there was none.
The next afternoon I was sitting outside and heard a loud bang which turned out to be the same tyre deflating explosively as a result, I was told later, of internal structural damage not visible from the outside.
I lodged a claim for the cost of 2 tyres (they cannot be replaced singly), which was over £200, with the local authority's legal department, who advised me that unless I could prove that the damage resulted directly from the hit, they would not pay out.
This was in Wiltshire, which generally has good roads, however I have been told by a number of people who live in Bucks that their roads are the worst in the country, and based on my own observations I cannot dispute that.
The next afternoon I was sitting outside and heard a loud bang which turned out to be the same tyre deflating explosively as a result, I was told later, of internal structural damage not visible from the outside.
I lodged a claim for the cost of 2 tyres (they cannot be replaced singly), which was over £200, with the local authority's legal department, who advised me that unless I could prove that the damage resulted directly from the hit, they would not pay out.
This was in Wiltshire, which generally has good roads, however I have been told by a number of people who live in Bucks that their roads are the worst in the country, and based on my own observations I cannot dispute that.
-9
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You have remedy at law to recover any damage to your vehicle from any Highway Authority, if you believe that it was caused by the deterioration in the highway. The hassle free way is to appoint an expert to assess your claim and to deal with the council and/or their insurers or the highway authority. Have a search by typing in pothole a claim in the search engine which hopefully will come up with various websites with information and/or guidance as to what you need in this regard.
+6
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Nomoreportholes!! - 6-Apr-10 15:57
The government is taking about £40 billion a year off the motorist through road and petrol tax, not to mention vat on buying the car, mot vat, repairs vat etc,
I bet no more than a billion is spent on filling in potholes, every tax disc you ever see keeps an idler in free benefit for a week or so.
I bet no more than a billion is spent on filling in potholes, every tax disc you ever see keeps an idler in free benefit for a week or so.
-12
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Gainsborough lad. - 25-Mar-10 20:54
I guess I must be very lucky where I live on the edge of Bristol (South Glos) council but I have to say they have done a fantastic job of resurfacing local roads after the horrendous pot holes caused by the bad weather.
-12
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